Goals by the Month

Some people set goals by the month, and some people are like me in that they used to set goals by the month, then they realized that the plans made to reach those goals often fall flat because of random circumstances.

Because life is so frustratingly random, one must learn to be flexible, which I often cannot do well because every time I think life with cooperate with me, it throws me another curveball that throws off my plans: mostly the odd day when I have to work late because an unscheduled/rescheduled assignment arrives or times when I get a headache or some other bodily ailment that prevents me from concentrating on anything.

That’s when contingency plans become necessary.

A couple days ago, I finished the second draft of RAFAEL, which I started in early May, so the draft took roughly three months to complete. That’s not bad. I rewrote the story scene by scene based on a revised outline rather going by a word count (500 or 1,000 words a day) until I reached the end. (I used the word count method with the first draft, and it took about five months.)

Today I started the second (technically fifth or sixth [long story]) draft of STEPHEN, and I have decided to write 500 words a day on weekdays and 1,000 words a day on weekends rather than going scene by scene. But I have a contingency plan: I set a goal of reaching scene 24 by the end of the month (the scene number I would be at if I was writing scene by scene). This will hopefully allow me to go at a slower pace during the week (when unplanned events are most likely to arise) while allowing me to catch up on the weekends.

I haven’t done this type of thing before, so I’m hoping it works out, but if not… I’ll have to start all over again with my plans. As long as I make some kind of progress and don’t completely stall, I’ll be doing well. 🙂

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One thought on “Goals by the Month”

I’ve given up on really focusing on long-term goals (aside from the big one of getting to London, of course). What I try to do instead is break it down. Say you have a big goal that won’t come to pass until sometime in the future. What step(s) can you take today that will help? I break everything down.

Congrats on finishing the second draft of RAFAEL!

It sounds like you’ve got a pretty good plan. And like you said, so long as you don’t stall and literally do nothing, you’re still making progress. Baby steps are still more than you’d have if you quit altogether!